European shares rise as voting starts in Britain's EU referendum

LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday
as firmer copper prices lifted mining stocks, while many
investors expected Britain to vote to stay in the European
Union.

The pan-European STOXX 600 and the FTSEurofirst 300
were both up by 0.5 percent, set for their fifth
straight day of gains.

Supermarket Tesco outperformed the broader market
with a 3 percent rise after reporting a second successive
quarter of UK underlying sales growth.

Voting got underway on Thursday on Britain's referendum on
whether or not to stay in the European Union. Most opinion polls
put the "Leave" and "Remain" camps at neck-and-neck, although
bookmakers have consistently given a greater probability towards
Britain staying in the EU.